That Lopsided Smirk
by Stefi Delly
Summary: Poussey and Brook spend some quality time together in which Poussey patiently listens while Brook rambles on and on and ends up complimenting the shape of Poussey's head and how many centimeters her smirk is off-center by.
**That Lopsided Smirk**

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 _Notes: This is basically a short piece i wrote to accompany a drawing i made, in which Poussey and Brook chill at the field, Poussey listening to Brook's rambling and Brook finding herself complimenting the shape of Poussey's head and how many centimeters her smirk is off-center by._

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She was looking.

"So when I tried to do something different with my piece I was trying to play on the piano, my mom kind of just _flipped_ , and it reminded me of that time Meadow and her boyfriend took me to this cabin."

She was staring.

"And so at that cabin, I was kinda just totally a third wheel while Meadow and the guy at the time, I can't quite remember his name. I think it was Joey? No wait, that's Mr. Caputo's name, right?"

She just kept staring and it was making Brook nervous. Her heart was beating just about as fast as her mouth was running.

"Mr. Caputo is pretty nice, I think. I mean for a guy in charge of us. Specially compared to Healy? God, Healy agitates me so much. He makes me feel horrible and like it's my fault I feel bad and I'm pretty sure he doesn't really care about us I mean why else would he try to get Berdie out of the picture?"

Brook could hear herself talking but felt out of control of her body. It just went on and on and breathing was getting more difficult with each word tumbling out of her mouth and _god_ her heart was just desperate to come jumping out.

"Speaking of which, I never got to properly participate in her acting workshops. I mean they weren't quite like _real_ impromptu exercises, you know? You know what, _fuck_." Brook gasped out the swear before expelling a series of words that managed to fit in one breath. "Why are you looking at me like that do you hate my rambling too i'm so awkward and stupid and noisy and annoying i'm so sorry please don't hate me you said nice things to me and stood up for me before but i don't think i've ever spoken to you this long before god i'm so sorry i'm sorry i'm sorry i'm sorry please don't hate me."

"I don't hate you." Poussey's smirk made Brook's heart beat all the faster. She basically had to bite her lip to keep it from gabbing all over again. "It's the complete opposite, yo. You know what I actually do feel for you?"

"Moderate annoyance?"

Poussey let out a short, clipped, bark of a laugh before pressing her palm down against the grass, propping herself up so her face was level with Brook's. "This is gonna sound corny as fuck, okay, but just, whatever, y'know? We cool. We more than cool."

"We are?" Brook felt her tensed muscles relax. She unclenched her jaw and allowed herself a smile.

With a nod, Poussey drew closer. The hand on Brook's waist moved up to cup her cheek. "Ich liebe dich."

Brook felt her cheeks warming up and before she knew it, her mouth was running itself all over the place again. "You know what? I love the way your head is shaped and how fuzzy it is and your nose is adorable and your cheekbones make Angelina Jolie's look like lumpy playdough and your cheeky, lopsided little smirk makes me melt."

"My smile is lopsided?" Poussey raised a brow.

"It's just a little off-center by about two centimeters."

"Y'know, Blasian, I was just about to kiss you. Kissing privileges revoked for calling my smirk lopsided." Poussey resumed her position lying in the grass, hand propped against her cheek. "This smirk won me lots of ladies, didja know that?"

Brook was about to let forth a stream of apologies but stopped herself when she realized that Poussey could just barely keep that stupid little pout in place. Soon enough, that smirk was back and Brook felt like her cheeks couldn't get any redder.

"Why?" The question had been in her head for the whole time they'd been building this bond and Brook felt it leap out of her mouth and it was all she could do to follow it up with a more detailed expansion of the initial question. "Why did you stand up for me when the Normanians were lashing out at me? Why did you speak up for me? Why did you save me? Why did you and your friends adopt me? Why didn't you just let me die there in the library that night?"

The smirk was gone and now Poussey was serious. Brook feared that the rambling was off-putting and the question was offensive.

"Y'know, I think I did it coz I y'know… I feel you." Poussey spoke slowly, eyes wandering as she tried to search for the right words. "I know what it's like yo. I know what it's like to be… y'know, isolated. To feel like there aint' nobody that got your back. And I kinda saw that you were dealin' with that too. You didn't got no friends, you was being picked on and excluded… I felt that too. Nobody deserves to feel that… right?"

"Not even me?"

Poussey propped herself up again and gave Brook a kiss on the cheek. "Not even you, babe."

The words were out of her mouth before she could stop them. "Wǒ ài nǐ"


End file.
